


The River

by indie_writes



Category: Newsies - All Media Types
Genre: M/M, the delancey brothers are assholes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-27
Updated: 2017-09-03
Packaged: 2018-12-20 13:47:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Underage
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,995
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11922174
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/indie_writes/pseuds/indie_writes
Summary: Bad things happened at the river while Race was out selling...





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Tw: Homophobia

To say it had been a long day for Spot would be an understatement. Of course no one was doing what they were supposed to, requiring a stern reminder (some would call it a “threat” but, whatever) from their leader. Not only that, but a few of the Brooklyn boys had gotten a good soaking a few days prior, so they needed to be looked after while they healed. He’d gotten some help from Blink which did not go unnoticed. It was finally the end of day, everyone was winding down and it was finally Spot’s quiet time. He had the door to his room shut (being the King has it’s perks, including getting a bedroom) and he was settling into his bed with a book he’d found in the park. He’d just gotten to a really good fight scene when he heard yelling outside his window. As he went to the window to tell whoever it was to pipe down, he realized they were calling his name.

“Spot! Hey!” someone called, but he couldn’t quite make out who it was. Spot climbed through the window and onto the fire escape. As he stepped into the light of the cool sunset, he noticed the three figures standing outside the Brooklyn lodging house. There was Davey, Crutchie, and Race who was slumped over on their shoulders. He took in the sight of the three boys and quickly threw himself back inside and went down to let them in.

“What the hell happened?” he asked, opening the doors. Now that he was closer to Race, he saw he looked and smelled completely awful. He smelled like sewage and look completely drained. They’d seen each other after a good soaking and he’d never looked so completely defeated.

“W-we were on our way back to the lodgin’ house when Crutchie and I found him coughing up water by the river bank.” Davey explained quickly, supporting Race’s weight on one shoulder.

“Yeah ever since Jack left for that vacation with Katherine, we’ve been watching over the Manhattan boys.” Crutchie added. Katherine had saved up enough money to send Jack to Sante Fe for a week and of course she wanted to come and supervise.

“So why is he here, why didn’t you just take him back with you?” Spot asked, getting Race into one of the chairs in the front.

“All he would say is that he wanted to see you, we weren’t too far away anyways.” Davey said. Race seemed aware of everything, he just wasn’t really responding to it all.

“Alright, you guys stay down here I’ll get him cleaned up and stuff. I think it goes without saying that he’s staying with me tonight.” Spot declared gruffly. It was best not to argue with Spot once he set his mind on something to Davey just nodded quickly. Spot went over to Race, who was being looked after by Crutchie.

“Hey, I’m gonna take you upstairs okay?” he said quietly, carefully taking Race’s arm.

“I can walk!” he groaned, yanking his arm away and then almost falling. Luckily, Spot was there to grab him before he completely embarrassed himself.  
“Sure pretty boy, I gotcha.” Spot wrapped his arm around Race and slowly led him up the stairs. Crutchie wiggled his eyebrows, no doubt hearing Race’s new nickname.

“I’m fine!” he waved dismissively. They reached the top of the stairs and Spot led him to the showers.

“Alright, can you stand long enough to not die in there?” Spot raised an eyebrow.

“Yeah ‘m fine.” Race said.

“You’re a liar but just get yourself cleaned up, you smell awful.” he joked. Race hopped into the shower, hoping to clean off what was most likely river gunk as Spot waited patiently outside.

“I don’t feel so good…” Race mumbled just loud enough for Spot to hear him.

“Are you gonna-” the sound of Race vomiting into the shower answered his question.

“Don’t turn off the water when you get out, let it go down the drain.” Spot instructed and soon Race stepped out with a towel wrapped around his waist.

“I didn’t wanna put these back on cause they smell like river.” he said sheepishly. Spot tried not to stare at his chest and just kept remembering that Race was only there because was hurt.

“That’s fine, you can take some spare stuff from me.” he offered. He led Race into his bedroom, avoiding the other newsies was easy since they were all asleep or too busy focusing on something else to notice the two of them. Once they were alone again, Race got dressed in some of the clothes Spot stole from taller boys and got himself comfortable on Spot’s bed.

“You stay here one second and I’m gonna go get you some food and water. When was the last time you had either of those?” Spot asked, heading towards the door.

“This morning?”

“You haven’t had water since this morning?” Spot asked in shock. No wonder the threw up earlier.

“I haven’t had the best day.” Race answered.

“Racer I swear…” he trailed off, leaving Race in his room. Race busied himself with the hem of the thin blanket until Spot returned with cup of water and a piece of bread.

“Thanks.” he said quietly, taking the cup and quickly drinking all of it.

“Finish that bread too, you should get some food in your stomach.” Spot said. Race slowly munched on the food he was given, and Spot refilled his cup once again.

“Are you gonna tell me what happened?” Spot asked.

“Well, there was a river,

“Yeah?”

“and I was in it.” he finished cooly.

“We both know someone put you there, I know you’re smart enough not to fall in and you sure as hell didn’t go in for a swim.” Spot fired back with a little more intensity.

“Look, I’m just really tired and I’d like to-”

“No, Race you’ve got to tell me who did this to you! I can’t just let you get beat up like this and not do anything about it!” Spot exclaimed, getting frustrated. Race flinched as he raised his voice and Spot immediately regretted it.

“Don’t you understand, that’s the problem! There’s nothing you can do about it.” Race hissed, wanting to yell but also not wanting to wake up the Brooklyn newsies.

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Spot asked.

“It was the Delanceys, you happy now?!” Race said, his words laced with venom.

“No, not in the slightest. I want you to know you can trust me to tell me what happened.” Spot calmed down slightly, not wanting to frighten his guest. He also silently cursed the Delancey’s and everything that had happened to them prior to this moment to make them this way.

“You’re not gonna leave me alone are you?” Race sighed.

“Nope! Might as well tell me.” Spot reached over to wrap an arm around him, but stopped short.

“Sorry, where are you on physical touches right now? I know what just happened must’ve-” 

“Hugs are good, I might need a little more physical reassurance if that’s okay with you.” Race admitted, looking down at his hands.

“Alright.” Spot wrapped an arm around Race’s waist instead and pulled him in close.

“Please just tell me what happened.” Spot said quietly. He was genuinely concerned for his best friend, and seeing him so broken and defeated took a toll on him.

“Alright…” Race leaned into Spot’s side and rested his head on his shoulder.

“So you know how we were on the fire escape outside the Manhattan lodging house?” Race began.

“Yeah, I had to drag you home after you fell asleep in Medda’s theater.” Spot laughed.

“Well apparently the Devil Twins were walking past and they saw us being all close and touchy, kind of like right now.” Spot started to slowly remove his arm from Race’s side in fear that he would upset him, but the curly haired boy just pulled himself in closer.

“They didn’t seem to like that at all. Then today, while I was out selling, probably not even an hour into it, they closed in around me and kicked me in the stomach a few times.” Spot winced at the thought of the person he cared so much about getting hurt where no one could help him. Race’s hands started to shake slightly as he remembered what had happened to him.

“That’s not even the worst of it. You see I happened to be near a small river at the time, I was moving from one spot to the other, and they got the idea that they would… throw me into it.” he said quietly, feeling his eyes burn with hot tears.

“I was real scared cause I was already having trouble breathing after the wind got kicked outta me and then they grabbed me. I fought hard, I really did, but they ended up bringing me to the river bank and throwing me over the side. The last thing I saw before I hit the water was their nasty grins looking back at me.” he gripped the fabric of Spot’s shirt real tight.

“It reminded me of the way the boys looked at me when I spent my first night at the Refuge, like I was something they couldn’t wait to just tear apart. You know, I was one of the first Manhattan boys to go there, before Crutchie or Jack even.” he admitted. Spot had heard stories of Race’s time at the Refuge and he knows about the burn marks that prove it. Spot felt his best friend tremble violently underneath his arm so he decided a different seating arrangement would be best. He slowly guided Race to sit in his lap so he could wrap him in his arms.

“I finally hit the water and went pretty far underneath. The current wasn’t going too fast but I was very disoriented and I thought I was going to drown. I was worried it was going to be those two who were gonna tell you and everyone else that I’d died. I was finally able to get to the surface and pull myself out, and I just kind of laid on the ground for a few minutes until I started coughing up water. If you think throwing up is bad, you don’t even wanna know how that felt. I was there for quite a long time until Davey and Crutchie found me and brought me to you.” Race picked at the hem of Spot’s shirt as he pressed his head into his chest.

“I-it wasn’t even the river or the soaking that got me, they called me these names- awful things. They told me I was worthless and that they were doing the world a favor by getting rid of me.” Race’s voice shook as he let tears fall down his face. Spot tightened his arms around the taller boy as he held him.

“Anthony I can’t even imagine what that must’ve been like.” he whispered, half appalled by the Delancey’s actions and half filled with worry over the entire thing.

“They said they were gonna come find you next…” Race whispered, barely audible. He finally finished telling his story as he buried his face into Spot’s shirt.

“It was so awful.” he sobbed, holding onto the other boy for dear life. He shook and sobbed as Spot held him protectively and slowly rocked back and forth until Race finally stopped.

“Hey, I ain’t going anywhere.” Spot said soothingly.

“How do you want me to fix it?” Spot asked. Race looked up with wide eyes and frantically shook his head.

“You can’t do anything. Imagine how it’ll look if you charge the Delancey’s, lookin’ to avenge me. It’s only going to confirm whatever they were thinking.” Race explained. 

“Alright alright, I ain’t gonna do nothin’” Spot told him, letting anger boil up inside of him. Race nodded tearfully as he continued to be rocked by Spot until he eventually fell asleep.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Y'all asked for a part two so here it is!
> 
> Tw: A lil bit of violence

“Race, I gotta get up…” Spot mumbled in the darkness. His body was accustomed to waking up at 5:30 in the morning every morning, when the even sun is still asleep.

“Alright, me too then.” Race replied lazily, unwrapping himself from Spot’s arms with his eyes still closed.

“Not yet pretty boy, you need your rest. I’ll come back when I wake everyone else up.” Spot said. It had been two days since Race had been dragged to the Brooklyn lodging house by Davey and Crutchie, and he was apparently well enough to get back out selling. Spot didn’t necessarily agree with this, but a certain smoking [hot] gambler kept insisting.

“Alright…” Race mumbled into a pillow as he rolled over. Spot pulled on his clothes for the day and stumbled into the bathroom, rubbing sleep from his eyes. As he became to actually wake up, a thick pile of dread anchored itself at the bottom of Spot’s stomach. "What if they come back? Race can’t handle another fight, it’ll kill him. He’s already so-" Spot splashed himself with cold water to stop his racing thoughts. He’d just have to trust that nothing bad would happen and if it did, he would be right there with him.

“Hey Racer it’s time to wake up.” Spot said softly before waking the others. He liked the idea of having a few minutes of alone time with him. Race continued to snore and rolled away from the sound of the brooklyn newsie’s voice.

“Hey, rise and shine gorgeous.” Spot gently shook Race’s shoulders.

“‘S it time?” he asked, looking up at the shorter boy with a small smile.

“Yeah it is, now get up or you’ll go hungry for today.” Spot answered gruffly, trying to hide a smile of his own.

“What’s to point of having the King of Brooklyn as my boyfriend if not to buy me food?” Race stuck out his lower lip in a fake pout.

“I always thought you were here for my ass.” Spot joked, kissing off his boyfriend’s sour expression. 

“Now c’mon, we’ve got work to do.”

The two decided to sell together that day, considering they thought it would be significantly more difficult for Race to get hurt again. They’d sold most of their papers, what with Race looking like he did, and Spot was down to his last one.

“Extra extra! Mass panic breaks out at local theater!”  
“Thousands flee!” Spot waved the merchandise in his ink stained hands until some poor sap who actually believed him came to buy it.

“Thank you very much.” Spot gave a quick nod and gratefully accepted a nickel, which he stuffed into this front pocket.

“C’mon, I’m starvin’” Race announced, practically dragging his boyfriend to the deli.

“Man, it smells real awful don’t it?” someone asked loudly, Spot and Race couldn’t identify who it was.

“Yeah, I’m getting the strong stench of river.” Race immediately stiffened up and his heart began to pound loudly in his ears.

“So how ya doing there Racetrack?” Oscar Delancey stepped into view and right into Race’s personal space. Morris came up behind Spot and Race, closing them in.

“I suggest you an’ your brother walk away right now, if you still wanna be walkin’ by the end of this little conversation that is.” Spot put himself between his boyfriend and the smarter Delancey brother.

“Now now Spot, we both know you can’t really do anything.” Oscar tutted, putting his hands on his hips.

“What’s it gonna look like when we go home bruised all because the brave knight just had to save the damsel in distress?” he grinned evilly, knowing what power he had over the two of them.

“You are one step away from me hanging you with your own necktie.” Spot growled.

“My my that wasn’t very nice.” Oscar said with mock offense. He gave a quick nod and Morris ran up and grabbed Race from behind. He held his arms back and then slammed the curly haired boy against one of the brick walls. The crack of Race’s head against the surface was loud in Spot’s ears.

“Get your hands offa him!” Spot screamed, lunging towards Morris only to have his shirt grabbed by his brother, keeping him in place. Morris had his forearm pressing onto Race’s throat, making it difficult for him to breathe. Every time his breath dragged Spot’s heart hurt a little bit more and anger was struggling to rip his insides apart.

“Spot please,” Race gasped.

“Don’t.”

“I’d listen to your little boyfriend there because I could have the bulls down here in an instant, and who do you think they’re going to believe?” Oscar lowered his voice as he pulled Spot by his shirt. Race’s breaths started going faster and more frequently as he began to panic and his airway was restricted further.

“You’re killing him!” Spot struggled in an attempt to remove his shirt from Oscar’s grasp, but to no avail. 

“Maybe it’s better this way.” Morris spat, pressing harder on Race’s throat. Race tried to push the Delancey brother off of him, but he weighed more than expected.

“C’mon, he’s no use to us dead.” Oscar motioned for them to leave, having thoroughly demonstrated his point. "No use to them dead?" Spot’s shirt was soon released and he was free to punch anyone he liked. Morris threw Race onto the pavement and he landed with a harsh thud and scraped himself on the pavement. The two brothers quickly left the scene as Spot went to help his boyfriend.

“Hey Race, you with me?” Spot heaved Race into his lap as he coughed violently. Spot rubbed his back until he calmed down enough to stop.

“Y-yeah I’m-” Spot pulled Race into a desperate hug, holding him tight to his chest.

“P-please don’t let go.” the curly haired boy whispered into the fabric of his boyfriend’s shirt.

**Author's Note:**

> Please tell me what you thought of this lil series!


End file.
